Abstract Hope
by Wisupi
Summary: This is a kind of surrealistic piece, better than the other thingy I wrote, mind you. It's weird, I got this idea kinda after seeing Soubi as a kid. It freaked me out and gave me inspiration. Advanced critique is fully appreciated.
1. The Bars of Solitude

Welcome to the Surrealism

Chapter 1

_Where am I?_

The boy opened his violet eyes to the dim space around him. He couldn't see anything except for the looming darkness seemed to go on forever in front of him.

Ritsuka looked down at his feet. He was standing on a hard surface of what seemed like smooth, dense shadows. Casting his eyes behind him, he concluded that he was surrounder by the evergoing dark.

He tried to walk. It was like stepping on a hard wooden floor, smooth and solid.

_Wha…what is this?_

As he stared round him with a bizarre wonder, Ritsuka felt a sudden jab in his chest.

"Ack!"

His hand lept up to grab his chest, trying to somehow numb the needle-sharp jab that seemed to pierce his very heart. Closing his eyes in pain, Ritsuka gasped, "Wha-what is this?!"

Then he felt it. Horrible images filled his mind, images of loneliness and pain. Suddenly, he was reliving Semei's false death, the brutal, uncontrollable beatings of his mother, the truth about his older brother, how he left him in the dark...

Ritsuka's eyes popped back open. His forehead was sweating and his whole body was shaking.

_I gotta get out of here._

He broke into a run, trying to make sense of where he was, yelling out for help that he knew probably wouldn't come.

"Hello? Is there anyone here? Hello?!"

The otherwise silent space was broken by a sharp cry, making Ritsuka's cat ears twitch and flinch.

Turning his head sharply towards the source of the sound, he yelled again,"Hello?!"

The cry repeated itself, sending chills down Ritsuka's back. Squinting his eyes in the dark, he was able to make out a dark shape and a flicker of movement.

Running towards the dark mass, he was able to make out more and more of whatever it was…

Thick dark crooked lines somehow interwined to make a cage…

A shadowy mist swirling through the "bars"…

A small figure lying on the bottom of the cage…

Ritsuka stopped running. He could now clearly see a young child in the cage trembling from fear and emmiting muffled cries into where he lay.

_Who's that? What the hell is going on?!_

The child suddenly raised his head and cried out again, a sharper cry, one where Ritsuka heard how much pain the boy was in. Maybe he did it on a whim. Maybe he was angry with the pain the child was obviously going through. A gut feeling perhaps. But whatever made him do it, Ritsuka was suddenly viciously pulling apart at the shadowy bars and snapping them in pieces as easily as if they were twigs.

What was left of the bars flew viciously at Ritsuka's face. With a yell, Ritsuka sheilded his face with his hands. The dark lines bounced harmlessly off of him, the child fell on the ground with a yell, and the fragments of the bars twisted in the air and dissapeared.

Ritsuka slowly walked up to the crouching boy, who was now breathing heavily, his gold ears and tail twitching.

Unsure of what to do, Ritsuka decided on holding his hand out and asking uncertainly, "Are you alright?"

The boy turned his head sharply towards Ritsuka, first looking at his hand, then uncertainly at his face.

Ritsuka saw that this boy was about five or six years old. His large innoncent blue eyes stared up at the older boy, unblinking. He was wearing a pair of baggy jeans, complete with a plain white, long-sleeved, rather dirty shirt.

All in all, he looked rather distrungled.

He slowly reached his skinny arm up and grabbed Ritsuka's hand. Ritsuka helped him up gently. The boy was about half of his height.

Looking into Ritsuka's violet eyes, the boy gulped once and whispered, "Thank you."

Ritsuka slowly let go of the boy's hand and stared at him. The boy shied his ears and cast his gaze downwards. Then, after sniffling once or twice, he suddenly threw his arms around Ritsuka's waist and began to sob into the older boy's shirt.

Ritsuka's arms lept up in surprise. Staring down at the boy, he wasn't sure of what to do. But slowly, he put his own arms around the crying child and hugged him close.

He certainly wasn't used to younger children. This was a different kind of affection than the kind Soubi showed him. Drooping his ears downwards, Ritsuka hugged the younger boy closer and began to stroke his blonde hair gently.

_But somehow…this feels familiar._

After a long while of embracing each other in the darkness, the two boys broke apart and looked at each other, the younger wiping his eyes and sniffing noisily.

Ritsuka ran his hand through his black hair, looking away from the younger boy, wondering what to say, then asked, "What's your name?"

The boy wiped his eyes a few more times, then opened his mouth to speak.

"I-I'm…"

With a resounding crash, the ground underneath Ritsuka collapsed. He yelled out in surprise and fear and quickly grabbed the edge of the large hole. He looked down fearfully. The dark here was less solid, somehow lighter, and seemed to lead somewhere…

"Hey!"

Ritsuka looked back up to see the little boy staring at him, his blue eyes full of desperation and fear.

"Take me with you!"

"What!?", Ristuka yelled back, as the edge he was holding on to started to crumble. He let go with one hand and grabbed a more solid piece of the edge, which too started to wear away.

"Take me with you! Please! Don't leave me here!"

The boys' eyes started to well up with tears again.

Ritsuka thought for a split second before he lost his grip.

"JUMP!"

The boy jumped into Ritsuka's open arms, closing his eyes as he did so. Ristuka saw that the younger boy was smiling slightly before he squeezed his eyes shut.

"AGGHHH!"

And so, the two boys, caught in a tight embrace, began to fall deeper and deeper into the hole…

--

Yeah. This one's a bit surrelistic, I guess. It wil continue on, I promise. Stay tuned!

PREVIEW CHAPTER 2

_The blonde teen gestured to the rocky path. "I keep trying to cross this path but each time I try, monsters take my innoncence bit by bit…will you guide me through?"_


	2. The Path of Monsters

The Path of Monsters

Chapter 2

As the two boys fell deeper and deeper into the hole, Ritsuka was fleetingly aware of a change in the younger boy.

He seemed heavier…

Not to mention taller…

Suddenly, Ritsuka noticed that his decsent to the ground was slowing, making it seem like he was a feather, floating to the ground.

_But where is the ground?_

Ritsuka took a quick glance behind his shoulder. It was lighter down there than he was before, and he could clearly see a rocky piece of the earth.

Grunting, Ritsuka somehow managed to flip himself over in midair, and position himself so that he would land on his feet. He gently touched the ground with the tip of his toes and landed gracefully on the hard jagged surface.

Then he looked at the boy laying splayed in his his arms and gasped.

He was older now, about fourteen years old, Ritsuka would say. His slanted eyes where closed in what seemed to be a peaceful sleep, but by the expression on his face and the way his body tensed, Ritsuka could see that it was the complete opposite.

Ritsuka put him down on the jagged ground, and moved the blonde teen in a sitting position on the ground. Holding his head up to the light, Ritsuka leaned close to the older boy's face.

_Who is he…?_

Abruptly, the teen opened his dark blue eyes.

"Holy Sh--!!"

Ritsuka jumped back in surprise, nearly tripping over a lone rock, and stared at the other boy, breathing heavily, arms defensively placed in front of his chest.

The older boy looked at Ritsuka with a rather anguished expression on his face, then stood up, averted his gaze to the ground, and said quietly, "I'm sorry…"

With that, Ritsuka softened his gaze and relaxed his body. The teen then looked around himself and the dark and walked over to his left.

"I've been here for a while.", He said quietly, surveying the gloom.

"Y-you what?", sputtered Ristuka.

The teen went on, walking to the other side. "Every time I try to break out,"The blonde then pointed over towards the gloom, from which strange and frightening noises were being emmited. "I lose a bit of my innoncence. They attack me."

"Uhh, umm, who's they?", Said the shocked and rather frightened Ristuka.

The older boy gestured again. "The monsters. They take it bit by bit."

"What monsters?!"

The teen turned his head around sharply and stared at Ritsuka. There were dark shadows under his blue eyes. "Will you guide me through the path?"

"What?", Ritsuka breathed. Frightened violet eyes met desperate blue eyes. "But I can't…I'm just...ack..."

"You can."The teen walked over to Ritsuka, and gently took Ritsuka's hand. "You're my only hope. Please…"

Ritsuka stared at the teen's anguished face. _Oh go, he's begging…_

"Are you sure I can?", whispered Ritsuka. The older boy silently nodded.

"Fine.", Ritsuka pulled him over and started to look for some sort of path in the gloom.

He managed to find one, in the end. One covered with brambles and sharp rocks, but it was a path.

He looked over at the teen in what he hoped was a reassuring smile. The teen hesitantly smiled back, then both started to walk the long thorny road that was the blonde's life.

--

Still confused? Ha! All will be explained! Just keep reading!

Chapter 3 PREVIEW

_"Don't let go!!", yelled the blonde._

_"Look out!!" Cried Ritsuka, as he watched the large shadow in horror…_


	3. Open Space

Open Space

Ack. I forgot bout the disclaimer. So. Ah-hem.

Loveless does not belong to me nor did it ever belong to me and if I lie I shall slit my wrists and get banged by Haruhara Haruko's sweet guitar.

Is that good enough? Or should I add that I will also jump off Tokyo Tower?

All right, just for safety measures.

Thank you.

You're quite welcome.

I could go on forever, but we have a story to read.

--

Chapter 3

"Do you know if there's gonna be an exit or something anytime soon?" asked Ritsuka worriedly. He'd been pulling the teen by the hand through the rocky path for about an hour, or perhaps more, jerking away from the mysterious shadows that seemed to crawl along with them, and flinching when accidently brushing his arm against a sharp thorn.

The blonde shrugged wearily. He seemed exhuasted. The purple shadows underneath his blue eyes seemed to have got bigger as they walked.

"I really don't know. I'm sorry."

Ritsuka gave a tired sigh. "Don't you want to rest? You look like you're gonna faint."

The blonde sharply looked at the violet-eyed boy, shaking his head violently, his eyes full of panic.

"No! They'll catch up with us, don't you understand? We keep on going, got that? And don't you dare let go of my hand."

"Uhh, okay." Ritsuka said hurriedly. He then turned his head around and pulling the older boy along with him, started to walk again.

--

The two boys walked on. Ristuka could feel his strength lagging bit by bit. Just when he thought he would faint from exhuastion, he saw a bright light penetrate the dark, thorny gloom.

Looking back at the weary teen, he grinned. "We're here! The end!"

The blonde's eyes lit up. "A-are you sure?"

"Yeah, come on!" In his excitement and his relief, the black haired boy rushed forward, letting go of the teen's hand.

"WAIT! NOT YET!" screamed the older boy.

Ristuka turned around and froze. A large shadow was creeping up behind the panic-striken blonde, poised as if to strike, like a large black snake.

"WELL WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! RUN!"

Jerking out of his parilysis, the teen broke into a fast sprint towards the younger boy. But the faster he tried to run, the more the shadow tried to catch up with the boy. It wasn't long until the shadow completely engulfed him.

Ritsuka charged at the black mass, from which faint whimpers were now being emitted. He tugged at the shadow, faint black pieces like wisps of cloth getting torn away by his clawing hands. Yelling in desperation, he tried to take on large masses at a time, but the more he pulled the more the dark seemed to strengthen from his fury. Suddenly, as quickly as the shadow caught up to the blonde, it suddenly swirled away from the crouching and shaking teen like a reverse cyclone.

Ristuka walked slowly and hesitantly up to the older boy. His face was void of expression, and was clutching his blonde hair with his long-fingered hands.

The older boy seemed to have not endured any physical harm. But there was something…

Something was missing.

Something rather obvious.

Looking at where the blonde had positioned his hands, the answer came to Ritsuka like a snakebite.

"W-where's your tail?"

The teen slowly turned his head around and stared at the wide-eyed boy. He slowly and painfully let go of his head. Ritsuka gasped.

The teen's golden ears were gone.

After a long moment of nervous silence, the teen spoke in a quiet and pained voice.

"I told you not to let go."

Ritsuka opened his mouth to speak, then shut it. He was at a loss for words. Avoiding the teen's exhuasted blue eyes, he whispered, "I'm sorry." Although he knew that saying those weak words would not help the older boy one bit.

The blonde made no response.

Ritsuka reached out his hand towards the teen. "Look, we're already there. You can make it, can't you? We've got this far...I won't let go this time."

Blue met violet as the blonde looked into Ritsuka's desperate eyes and slowly nodded.

"It's not your fault…"

He grasped the younger boy's hand and slowly stood up. He gestured towards the light with his free hand.

"Let's go."

The two boys didn't rush this time. They walked slowly and patiently,trying as hard as they could to avoid another incident, getting closer and closer to the brightness.

The rocky path slowly began getting smoother…

The dark brambles were being replaced by long green grass…

The dark sky was getting lighter and lighter before finally settling for a silver cloudy sky…

They were finally out. Ritsuka let go of the teen's hand, and started surveying the grassy field with his dark eyes.

"Well, it's certainly better than the place you were stuck in, isn't it?" He turned around. "Where are we anyway?"

Looking at the blonde teen, who was now staring up at the gray sky, he realized that without his ears and tail, the blonde looked familiar, no, he would say a lot…

The blonde suddenly let out a gasp of pain, clutched his neck and scrunched up his eyes.

Ritsuka stared at him in shock. He quickly ran up to the teen, and began to ask, "What's…?

A sharp blow of pain to the side of his face cut him off abruptly. Falling backwards with a heavy thud on the smooth, chalk-white path, Ritsuka looked up angrily, holding the left side of his face where he was sure a bruise was beginning to form. "You…!" he began angrily then froze.

The blonde held an angry fist aloft, the other hand holding on tothe front of his neck. The expression on his face was of divine fury and terror. He was slowly backing away from the terrified boy.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!!"

--

Oh. Look at that. That's a nice little development, isn't it? Results of my crazy mind. Well, I'm sorry but I'm going to leave my beloved audience in the dark, for there is NO CHAPTA PREVIEW. Next chapter will probably be the last. But, who knows, I might pull a Kouga and go on. Like when she lied about the seventh volume being the last.

I think this chapter was the best written so far. The rest seem so rushed…


	4. Concrete and Dead Hope

Concrete

Nyuhurhurhur, this will be my last chapter and as, wait… Heart of a Crescent suggested, I will put in an extra page explaining the whole format of the story.

Just to warn you, if I do another fic, don't expect it to be filled with pointless fluff and bad fangirl humour. Weird stuff like this is my style. But since I like fluff, I'll put in some, just not POINTLESS fluff, savvy?

I hate cliches.

Well, here it is.

--

Ritsuka stared at the retreating boy, startled out of his wits. The teen closed his eyes in pain and sharply gasped.

Everything seemed to get darker. The sky became flat and solid, and the air around them seemed to harden. Before they knew it, the two boys were imprisoned in a large cell of concrete.

Still clutching his neck, the blonde started to whimper, "Get away from me, please get away from, do me no more harm, please…"

Standing up, Ritsuka yelled at him, "What the hell are you talking about!? I'm not doing it! I'm NOT!"

But the frightened teen just kept whispering, "Don't hurt me, don't hurt me, don't hurt me…"

As Ritsuka stared helplessly at the blonde, a strong wind that seemed to have sprung up out of nowhere suddenly lifted the teen into the air, and slammed his thin body against one of the cold gray walls, wrenching his hands off of his neck and pinning his arms to his side, like a crucifix.

Finally, Ritsuka understood everything that had just happened, for on the blonde's pale neck, crimson thorns were carved out in an inticrate pattern, surrounding the word, _Beloved_.

With surprising strength, Ritsuka charged up to the teen,and hanging on to his shoulders, screamed in his face, "I'M NOT HIM!! I'M NOT SEIMEI, YOU HEAR ME?! I'm NOT SEIMEI!!"

The shuddering blonde opened his eyes halfway to look at Ritsuka's dark violet eyes, and closed his own.

"I-I'm sorry," he spoke shivering. "You're not him. True…"

Soubi fell limply on the concrete floor, and leaned back on the concrete wall, flinching in pain.

Staring up at Ritsuka with half-lidded eyes, he said quietly, "I'm so weak…"

Ritsuka whispered, "Soubi, you're not weak."

Gazing up at the younger boy, Soubi asked, "How did you know my name?"

Ritsuka gave a small smile. "You don't know me yet. We meet in the future."

Looking back down, Soubi stared straight ahead, and whispered, "But… I have a future then?"

Pointing at the wall behind Soubi, Ritsuka said, "You made a crack, see?"

Soubi abruptly stood up and stared at the medium sized crack. Faint rays of light were pouring through the thin lines of the fissure.

Turning back to look at the younger boy, Soubi whispered, "Will you stay with me?"

At those words, another strong wind suddenly swriled up and began pulling at Ritsuka's thin frame.Starting to pull him out of the concrete prison.

Leaving Soubi behind.

Looking over at Soubi with sad eyes, he said, "I'm sorry. I can't."

Soubi grabbed Ritsuka's hand, looking at Ritsuka with wild eyes. "Then take me with you! I can't stay here, I won't make it.Please!"

Ritsuka twisted his face, struggling not to cry in frustration. "I'm sorry."

Soubi's desperate cries were blurring in Ritsuka's senses. Closing his eyes, he felt himself slowly fading into the wind, mixing with the current, and then…

He dissapeared.

Looking down at where his only hope had vanished, Soubi fell down on his knees, staring up at the concrete, and whispered, "And so, my hope dies…"

Maniacal laughter echoed in throughout the small cell. Soubi shivered.

--

Ritsuka sat up in bed with a gasp. Beads of sweat rolled off his forehead. Breathing hard for a moment, he clutched his hair and silently reprimanded himself.

_Why did I leave him? Why!?_

Looking out through the window that led to the balcony, Ritsuka gazed at the large silver moon that shone through the glass.

"Soubi…"

--

And lookie that. Da end of da end. This story made much use of metaphors that will be explained in an additional chapter. Thank you to all my readers and reviewers for your appreciated support.

Missy Bu:Ru


	5. Explanation of Da Story

Explanation Page

To all readers, if you were confused with the symbolism, I hope that this page helps you out.

--

The strange darkness; When Seimei "died", he left Ritsuka in the "dark", right? And earlier, Soubi's parents were killed in a car accident, so he was pretty much all alone. I thought the metaphor suited them both well.

Ritsuka; Throughout the whole story, Soubi kinda refers to him as his "hope". Ritsuka symbolized the small hidden fragment of hope Soubi had to get him out of his situation. The thing about not letting him go, he was scared that he'll lose "hope", savvy?

The weird cage: Young soubi was stuck in the cage of solitude until he found a friend; hope. Or Ritsuka otherwise.

The jagged path: Soubi's rough childhood with Ritsu.

The letting go; Soubi lost his virginity, and lost his hope. But after a while, he decided to try and hang on.

The field: This symbolizes Soubi meeting Seimei. He's not sure whether he's out yet so the atmosphere is neutral.

The Freaking out: Soubi was all good when Seimei was happily slicing into his neck, yeah? Well, the freaking out was when he thought Ritsuka was Seimei and it was all of his suppresed emotion when that happened.

Concrete cell: Soubi's time with Seimei. Cold and lonely.

Crack: The crack represented very faint hope.

Shadow: Ritsu. Duh.

Light at end of path: Seimei

Ritsuka leaving: Soubi abandoning most of his hope.

Maniacal laughter: Seimei.

--

That good enough?


End file.
